If you have questions about the Bonati Spine Procedures, call 855-267-0482 or visit: bonati.com.

]]>Consider These 4 Resolutions To Ease Chronic Pain For Better Health In 2017http://blog.bonati.com/consider-these-4-resolutions-to-ease-chronic-pain-for-better-health-in-2017/
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:19:15 +0000http://blog.bonati.com/?p=1892This article is excerpted from the article “4 Concrete New Year’s Resolutions for Chronic Pain Relief” from spine-health.com. It was originally written by Stephanie Burke on December 21, 2016.

If you’ve been living with chronic pain, New Year’s is the perfect time to make a few changes to try and get 2017 off to a good start.

Change is not always easy, but we’ve provided some concrete, real-life goals—and tips for reaching those goals—to get you started.

Take a look at these tips, and try adding at least one of these to your list of resolutions:

Invest in the right pair of walking shoes. To do this, go to a local running specialty shop. Ask the sales staff to watch you walk and help determine your level of pronation, the degree to which your feet rotate in stride. Finding a shoe that matches your stride may help distribute weight across your body evenly, reducing stress on the back.

Build walking into your daily schedule so you can’t easily skip it. For example, walk to the train everyday or walk during your lunch break.

If walking is difficult due to leg weakness or balance issues, try getting a cane or trekking poles. Or walk inside (such as in a mall), where there are fewer tripping hazards.

If walking is too jarring on your spine, consider walking on a treadmill, which has a more padded, forgiving surface and will be less jarring on your spine. If a treadmill is still too harsh, consider walking in a warm pool—the water will support most of your body weight and take pressure off your spine.

Depending on your individual level of fitness, you may want to start out walking only a few minutes at a time, and gradually—over a period of several weeks and maybe even months—try to walk for at least 30 minutes at least 3 or 4 times each week.

Kick electronics out of the bedroom.

Studies have shown as many as 66 percent of individuals with chronic back pain are also living with sleep disorders. One bad habit that’s contributing to poor sleep for many people is using electronics like a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or TV while in bed. It’s all too easy to get distracted and stay up too late when you should be preparing to fall asleep.

The best way to train your body for readiness to fall asleep is to reserve your bedroom for sleeping and sex only. Keep all distracting electronic devices in another room at night.

This is part of observing good sleep hygiene—a routine or series of habits engaged in before bed each night. Other sleep hygiene habits may include regulating the time you go to bed and wake up, taking a hot bath before bed every night, blocking out noise with a fan or sound machine, or what the lighting and temperature are in your room each night.

If you haven’t fallen asleep after 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something else. Waiting in bed to fall asleep may boost your stress levels, making achieving sleep even more difficult.

Set a tobacco quit date

Studies have shown that smokers experience pain more frequently than non-smokers.

Quitting smoking can be highly challenging but is definitely worth the effort. Don’t put off quitting. Set a date and stick to it. Share the date with friends and family, so you’re more committed to that date and they can help hold you accountable to it.

Here are a few other suggestions to make the quitting process smoother:

If you associate other habits, such as drinking coffee, with smoking, replace those habits with new ones. For example, if you buy coffee and smoke every morning, buy tea instead.

For the first few weeks of not smoking, limit your exposure to friends or family who smoke, in order to resist temptation.

These same rules apply to other tobacco related products like dip and vapes.

Stand up every hour

Sitting less is key to improving back health; one study found that just 66 fewer minutes sitting each day significantly reduces back and neck pain while also improving your mood.

Having a lengthy commute and a desk job doesn’t have to mean sitting all day. Reduce time spent in a chair with the following methods:

Use a laptop stand or standing desk at work as opposed to a traditional desk. The discs of your lower spine are compressed up to 3 times as much while sitting, so standing at work can relieve pressure on the spine.

Get up every hour, even if just to get a drink of water. In addition to breaking up the day, this habit will keep blood flow to the muscles in your back more active.

Don’t head straight to the couch or recliner when you get home. Take a short walk before you settle in for the evening, and get up frequently while you’re watching TV. Better yet, set up a treadmill in front of the TV—or invest in a treadmill with its own screen—so you can stay active while you watch your favorite shows.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.spine-health.com/blog/4-simple-new-years-resolutions-back-pain-relief

A note from The Bonati Spine Institute: The patented and targeted, precision Bonati Spine Procedures were created to eliminate chronic back or neck pain. If you are experiencing issues and tips like the above are not alleviating the pain, call (855) 267-0482 or complete our informational form and a patient advocate will reach out to help.

]]>7 Signs For When You Need to See a Spine Surgeonhttp://blog.bonati.com/7-signs-for-when-you-need-to-see-a-spine-surgeon/
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:08:44 +0000http://blog.bonati.com/?p=1876

You are experiencing decreased mobility

As your body ages, you should expect to lose some of your mobility. However, if pain and decreased mobility are preventing you from enjoying daily life minimally invasive spine surgery may provide the relief that you need and deserve.

You are experiencing diminished flexibility

Although it is completely normal to experience loss of flexibility with age, a severe loss of flexibility may point to serious problems. If your flexibility has diminished, it’s wise to seek consultation and treatment to ward off future complications.

Your condition is not improving

Progressive spinal conditions like osteoporosis and stenosis tend to get worse over time. If you have a progressive condition, you should see a specialist regularly to monitor your condition. During these visits, be sure to discuss your future treatment options for the potential inevitability of a downturn, including surgery.

Other treatments aren’t working for you

If you have tried non-surgical treatments, such as physical therapy, medications and chiropractic care and your condition is still not improving, you may need surgery.

You have a spinal deformity

Spinal deformities such as scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, or kyphosis, a rounding of the back, create extreme curvatures of the spine. While interim measures such as physical therapy and braces are effective in the early stages, spine surgery is frequently necessary for relief.

You have an injury to the spine

While the majority of patients with spine problems, and their physicians, have the luxury of time to determine the best course of action, a sudden injury to the spine, such as a misalignment of your vertebrae, presents a situation where decisions need to be made quickly and accurately. When there is severe injury, a spine surgery may be the best option for continuing a normal life.

You have potential nerve damage

When spine conditions cause damage to nerves, permanent disability is possible. Common signs of nerve damage include numbness and/or tingling in the legs and feet. If you have severe symptoms such as bladder or bowel incontinence, you should see a specialist as soon as possible.

Remember there is a big difference between “minimally invasive spine surgery” and the Bonati Spine Procedures. To learn about these differences in greater detail, read our previous post: The Bonati Spine Procedures vs. Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery or call our patient advocates at (855) 267-0482 and they will be happy to answer all your questions and verify if you are a candidate for our targeted and patented precision procedures.

]]>Use of Opioids Linked to Higher Levels of Dissatisfaction Following Spine Surgeryhttp://blog.bonati.com/use-of-opioids-linked-to-higher-levels-of-dissatisfaction-following-spine-surgery/
Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:07:04 +0000http://blog.bonati.com/?p=1887A new study appearing in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) links the use of opioid pain relievers (prescription medications such as Percocet, Hydrocodone, OxyContin and Vicodin) to less improvement and higher levels of dissatisfaction following spine surgery. In this study, 326 out of 583 (56 percent) patients reported some degree of opioid use prior to elective lumbar, thoracolumbar or cervical spine surgery.

Patient-reported health status was measured preoperatively, and at three and 12 months following surgery, using a range of established medical tests that measure levels of physical and mental function, depression, distress, back and other pain, disability, somatization (chronic, physical symptoms with no known cause) and treatment results. Among the findings, increased preoperative opioid use was a significant predictor of worse health outcomes at three and 12 months following surgical treatment.

“We have demonstrated that increasing amounts of preoperative opioid consumption may have a harmful effect on patient reported outcomes in those undergoing spinal surgery,” said lead study author Clinton J. Devin, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery at the Vanderbilt Spine Center. “Our work highlights the importance of careful preoperative counseling with patients on high doses of preoperative opioids, pointing out the potential impact on long term outcome and working toward narcotic reduction prior to undergoing surgery”.

There is no solid evidence that opioids, or narcotics, work better than non-narcotic pain medications in relieving chronic pain from a spine condition. There are a number of serious risks with opioids that need to be considered. Opioids can be habit-forming if the patient isn’t careful. Opioids can also have limited effectiveness if the patient develops a tolerance to the medication over time. And high opioid doses may produce hyperalgesia syndrome where patients experience increased pain sensitivity, even when doses are increased.

For patients with degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, sciatica, pinched nerves or spinal stenosis, surgery leads to greater long-term improvement in pain, functioning, and mobility compared to non-surgical treatment, concludes an eight year follow-up study in Spine. The researchers analyzed data from the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), the largest clinical trial of surgery for spinal disorders, and also the first evidence-based study of spine surgery and pain medications. In SPORT, patients with spine conditions underwent surgical or non-surgical treatment, such as pain-relieving medications.

When outcomes were compared for patients who actually underwent surgery versus non-surgical treatment, significant differences were seen. The investigators found that the peak benefits are achieved within six months after surgery and persist through eight years.

The conclusion is that opioid use does not only debilitate patients prior to surgery but after surgery as well.

The Bonati Spine Institute offers a highly effective, targeted and patented, outpatient procedures for spine problems with a patient satisfaction of 98.75%. For more information, call (855)267-0482 or visit bonati.com.

This article was originally written by Louise Donahue on 12/1/2016 and is excerpted from spine-health.com.

If you have chronic back pain or are recovering from back surgery, you may be wondering how you’re going to manage the holidays.

The family togetherness is great, but all the events and obligations can make the season exhausting—and painful. Try the following strategies for a less hurried, more comfortable time.

Save your energy for what’s important

Before the holidays are in full swing, think about what you really enjoy about this time of year. If a longtime tradition has become more of a chore than a celebration, cross it off your list.

It may be helpful to make a few tweaks in holiday festivities that require a lot of standing or twisting. If you love to bake cookies, for instance, see if a friend or relative would like to stop by and help so you aren’t bending over a hot oven yourself.

Pace yourself

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the holiday spirit and end up paying for it later.

To avoid pushing yourself too hard, start thinking now about what can be done ahead of time. That could mean cooking a one-dish favorite, such as lasagna, and freezing it to serve when company arrives. Getting out the holiday decorations and checking to see if any lights need to be replaced now could save time later. If clothes need to be ironed or sent to the cleaners for a big holiday event, take care of that soon too.

Avoid a last-minute scramble to clean up household clutter by tackling a small area every couple of days. Put together a countdown schedule of what should be done three weeks in advance, two weeks in advance, and so on, to stay on track.

When the holidays arrive, pay attention to your pain. Take a nap or sit in the recliner with a heating pad and a movie. Make a good night’s sleep a priority; if you have company, don’t rush to get out of bed in the morning and make everyone breakfast. Set out cereal and bowls so they can help themselves instead.

Let others help

You’ve probably had people ask you to let them know “if there’s anything I can do.” This is the time to have a ready answer, whether it’s picking up the ingredients for a pumpkin pie, shoveling the sidewalk, or bringing in the Christmas tree.

Any kind of exertion that could add to your pain or jeopardize your recovery should be delegated to someone else. If you can’t avoid hosting duties, draw up a detailed list of duties well in advance—and leave yourself off the list. Distribute the list to everyone early on.

Keep moving—safely

Climbing a ladder to put up a string of lights should be avoided, but don’t abandon your exercise routine. Stretches and gentle aerobic exercises, such as walking, can help improve your outlook by producing endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever.

Exercise can help counteract depression, which commonly develops alongside chronic pain. 1,2 Swimming or doing water exercises in a warm pool can be a soothing, healthy break from the holiday rush. (If you’re recovering from surgery, your doctor has probably outlined the safest moves.)

Plan ahead for gift-buying

Standing in long lines at crowded stores is likely to be uncomfortable at best, excruciating at worst.

If you usually exchange gifts, tell family members you need gift ideas right away. Then try to buy everything at one store, or deputize a friend or relative to do the shopping for you.

Ordering some or all gifts online or from a catalog can also give make your life easier. If someone on your list doesn’t give you an early suggestion, don’t let it derail your plan. Buy the person some colorful socks, a scarf, or a gift card and call it a day.

Get some meals delivered

A growing number of restaurants and retailers offer delivery. Call your favorite restaurant or check its website to learn about delivery or carry-out options. Some restaurants and grocery stores offer economical dinner packages for a group. Avoiding the bending, lifting, and twisting involved in shopping and cooking for a large group is probably worth the cost of the meal.

Consider hiring help

Are the dust bunnies in the corner driving you crazy? A housecleaner may be a good investment to avoid painful positions as you scrub and vacuum.

Ask friends and neighbors who have cleaning help to recommend someone, or check on Angie’s List or Care.com. You may also contact your local middle school or high school to see if there are students who need to volunteer to earn community service hours.

If you already have occasional cleaning assistance, it may be worthwhile to have the housecleaner come more often until the holidays are over.

Setting priorities and doing less can difficult, especially if you’re someone who usually takes care of everyone else. By planning ahead and delegating duties, and making a real commitment to honor your own needs, you’re less likely to push yourself too far and make your pain worse.

Chronic low back pain and depression are two of the most common health problems that health professionals encounter, yet only a handful of studies have investigated the relationship between these conditions in the general population. Major depression is thought to be four times greater in people with chronic back pain than in the general population.

In research studies 62% of patients seeking treatment at pain clinics for chronic low back pain showed signs of depression. It was also found that the combination of chronic back pain and depression was associated with greater disability than either depression or chronic back pain alone.

Depression is more commonly seen in patients with chronic back pain problems than in patients with pain that is of an acute, short-term nature. How does depression develop in these cases? This can be understood by looking at the host of symptoms often experienced by the person with chronic back pain or other spine-related pain.

The pain often makes it difficult to sleep, leading to fatigue and irritability during the day. Then, during the day, because patients with back pain have difficulty with most movement they often move slowly and carefully, spending most of their time at home away from others. This leads to social isolation and a lack of enjoyable activities.

Due to the inability to work, there may also be financial difficulties that begin to impact the entire family. Beyond the pain itself, there may be gastrointestinal distress caused by anti-inflammatory medication and a general feeling of mental dullness from the pain medications. The pain is distracting, leading to memory and concentration difficulties. Understandably, these symptoms accompanying chronic back pain or neck pain may lead to feelings of despair, hopelessness and other symptoms of a major depression or clinical depression.

A recent study investigated the family consequences of chronic back pain. Patients reported a wide range of limitations on family and social roles including: physical limitations that hampered patients’ ability to do household chores, take care of the children, and engage in leisure activities with their spouses. Spouses and children often took over family responsibilities once carried out by the individual with back pain. These changes in the family often led to depression and anger among the back pain patients and to stress and strain in family relationships.

Several psychological theories about the development of depression in chronic back pain patients focus on the issue of control. Chronic back pain can lead to a diminished ability to engage in a variety of activities such as work, recreational pursuits, and interaction with family members and friends. This situation leads to a downward physical and emotional spiral that has been termed physical and mental deconditioning. As the spiral continues, the person with chronic back pain feels more and more loss of control over his or her life. The individual ultimately feels totally controlled by the pain, leading to major depression.

The Bonati Spine Institute has been successfully treating chronic back and neck pain for over 30 years with 98.75% patient satisfaction. To verify if you may be a candidate for the patented, precision Bonati Spine Procedure call (855) 267-0482 or log on to bonati.com.

Here Natasha’s story from misdiagnosis to finding relief after visiting the Bonati Spine Institute.

If this story sounds like you, contact us at 855-267-0482 and a patient advocate will be happy to help.

]]>Spine Surgery For Herniated Discs: Why Waiting is Not Your Best Optionhttp://blog.bonati.com/spine-surgery-for-herniated-discs-why-waiting-is-not-your-best-option/
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 20:10:41 +0000http://blog.bonati.com/?p=1856A study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that patients with herniated lumbar disc symptoms were significantly worse off if the patients had symptoms for more than six months prior to treatment, compared to those who had symptoms for six months or less. Symptoms included pain, loss of function, loss of mobility and negative general health.

Lumbar disc herniation is a condition in which all or part of the jelly-like material in the center of a disc between two vertebrae in the lower back is forced through the weakened outer wall of the disc. When the disc herniates it invariably puts pressure on a nerve root it causes a variety of symptoms, including: causing numbness, tingling, burning and/or weakness in one or both legs. One of the most common and debilitating conditions of the spine, symptomatic lumbar disc herniation affects 2 percent of the population, or 1.6 million people, at some point in their lives, most often starting in people in their 30s and 40s.
“Patients often ask their physicians whether the duration of their symptoms will affect their potential for a full recovery, and the goal of our study was to address this question,” said Orthopaedic surgeon Jeffrey A. Rihn, MD, one of the study’s authors. He added “The bottom line is patients who seek treatment, whether it is surgical or non-surgical, during the first six months of symptoms will respond better to treatment. We also learned that surgery offers advantages over non-surgical treatment regardless of the duration of symptoms.”

The study authors observed 1,192 patients enrolled in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), which was conducted at 13 multidisciplinary spinal practices in 11 states. At all follow-up intervals patients who sought surgical treatment within six months of the onset of symptoms reported better outcomes than those who waited more than six months. These findings fly in the face of the conventional wisdom which had been that one should bear the herniated disc symptoms for a long time before seeking a surgical solution. The study authors also found that surgical treatment was significantly more effective than non-operative treatment.

Several studies conducted over the past 30 years have demonstrated the effectiveness of a lumbar discectomy. Lumbar discectomy involves the removal of the herniated disc material that is pressing on a nerve root or the spinal canal.

The Bonati Spine Institute pioneered the development of minimally invasive spine surgeries, including the Bonati Lumbar Discectomy. This procedure is performed as outpatient surgery, so there is no need for costly overnight hospitalization. The herniated disc is treated with patented instruments inserted into an incision about the circumference of a dime. The surgery has a documented success rate of over 94% and patients are able to begin walking normally minutes after surgery.

If you are interested in learning more about the Bonati Spine Institute’s over 30 year record of unmatched success you may call us at (855) 267-0482 or click here if you would like a free review of your MRI of CT Scan findings by our surgeons.

There seem to be suddenly dozens of spine surgery centers promoting themselves as “minimally invasive”. However, there is some diversity in opinion about minimally invasive spine surgery. Either surgeons claim to do it or say it isn’t important. For the doctors who claim to perform these procedures, some of these surgeons truly do minimally invasive spine surgery, however most do not.

Minimally invasive spine surgery has several meanings to different surgeons. As a patient/consumer you must learn what type of surgery your surgeon is performing, and what type of training they had to make the claims that they do regarding the procedures they may offer you. Your surgeon should be able to provide you with outcome data, success rate and complications rate. As a patient you should be thoroughly educated on the different types of spinal surgery available.

Note that many surgery centers purporting to be “minimally invasive” are performing fusions. Fusions, which create large amounts of scar tissue and which dissect muscles, are the very contradiction of “minimally invasive” and usually require an incision that should correctly be classified as “less invasive” than open spine surgery.

Dr. Martin Knight from The Spinal Foundation warns, “Don’t be confused by clinics offering Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (MISS) which by definition has an incision of less than 25mm (1.0 inch), when they really mean Less Invasive Spinal Surgery (LISS) which uses an incision(s) which amount to 80mm (3.0 inches) – 160mm (6.3 inches).”

Because herniated discs and spine problems are such a pervasive problem, improved treatments are always sought after. Many treatments today are marketed as “less-invasive” or even as “minimally invasive”, when in reality they are not. The endoscopic spine surgery performed in the Bonati Spine Procedures is what true minimally invasive spine surgery looks like.

The Bonati Spine Institute is where minimally invasive spine surgery began and this is all we do. Dr. Alfred O. Bonati invented many of the methods and instruments used today in true minimally invasive spine surgery. We employ the smallest incision possible and our protocol is unique to the Bonati Spine Institute. Our procedures are patented and are performed exclusively at our facility in Hudson, Florida, by surgeons personally trained by Dr. Bonati. Over 30 years of constant innovation have resulted in patented procedures that have been performed more than 50,000 times with a patient-reported satisfaction rate of over 98.75%. We have treated patients from throughout the United States and over 30 different countries with outcomes unmatched by any other spine surgery center. For more information, call 855-267-0482.

Chronic pain can actually accelerate the aging process by 30 years, according to new findings. These results are strongly relevant to patients dealing with long-term back pain and neck pain.

The study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society noted that chronic pain patients (aged 50-59) looked similar to healthy patients who were two to three decades older. Furthermore, the study found that the chronic pain sufferers also functioned as if they were much older, specifically in terms of four types of physical activities:

Walking/jogging

Climbing stairs

Using the upper extremities

Performing everyday activities like bathing, dressing and eating.

A note from The Bonati Spine Institute: The exclusive and patented Bonati Spine Procedures were created to eliminate chronic back or neck pain. If you are experiencing any issues don’t let the pain make you feel older than you are. Call (855) 267-0482 or complete our informational form and a patient advocate will reach out to help.